As we approached the anchorage we noted that many others had the same idea. There were about 35-40 boats in the anchorage during the days we stayed here, but it is a very large anchorage and could accommodate many more.
The most notable difference since our last visit here 10 years ago is the tremendous increase in megayachts. We saw 3 ships over 250ft long anchored off the island and numerous 85-150ft yachts, all equipped with the latest water toys like slides, jet-skis, tenders with 3-5 450hp outboard engines, etc...
Most of these boats operate out of Nassau and shuttle guests down here to the Exumas for week long excursions.
Our next surprise as we pulled up to a good anchoring spot on the northern edge of the anchorage was to find Sara Lou anchored right off our port side. Sara Lou is a sailboat from our home marina in Yorktown VA. We knew they were cruising the Bahamas this season but what a surprise to see them anchored at Big Majors right next to the spot we picked to stop at, among the other 40 boats in the anchorage.
We had a good visit with them swapping stories about how much has changed in the Bahamas.
What hasn't changed is the beautiful, colorful waters with crystal clear clarity. We hopped in our dinghy and zipped out to check out the offshore islands.
A short dinghy ride took us to one of the islands just west of the anchorage. The island we selected to explore had no one else around. In contrast, the island just around the corner had six beach umbrellas and at least 20 beach lounge chairs set up by one of the 250ft ships anchored just offshore. I expect they were drinking tropical concoctions and eating lobster appetizers there.
Sue was again disappointed that there were almost no shells on the island. I found two whelk shells but both of them had live inhabitants and weren't large enough to make a meal so we returned them to the sea.
Rivah was curious about all the new smells on her first visit to the Bahamas but figured out this was probably not something good to eat.
Enough excitement for one day... tomorrow we'll head over to Pig Beach.
Sunset over the boats and islands behind us to the west.
